Nerdy opinions about nerdy things

Tag Archives: Halo the Master Chief Collection

As I sit here in a dimly lit room I’ve finally come up with a way to describe why I think the MCC is still a great game despite it’s set backs. First off I’d like to state that this game was a huge improvement and the number of things happening makes me think someone up top should have been considering the possibility of such a huge problem. The game does more than release new maps and an upgraded campaign, it is everything that was previously on a older system plus dedicated servers and 60 fps with 1080p. Murphy’s law alone is reason to suspect launch issues everywhere. It’s a tough situation considering you can’t launch a beta for something that’s already come out and it would be hard to target that audience. Though had someone made that happen they would have learned at least a month in advanced their servers were bad and matchmaking wouldn’t work. To me though the simpler solution would have been starting the servers far in advanced, basically when reviewers first get a copy. But that’s in the past, what’s done can’t be undone.

To me this is still a successful game though and I’m probably the only person in the world who thinks that. Given that they fix the game completely later on, it will still succeed in dragging me and thousands of other back in. The point of the game wasn’t to be “Game of the Year” because it’s a re-release, the point is to bring back those memories and put a Halo game on the Xbox One. I have still largely enjoyed the game and taken the hassle with matchmaking as a side effect of new territory for 343 industries. So let’s branch off on that, it’s literally what makes the MCC worth buying and so we should focus on that.

Halo 2 and 3 had some of the best memories of my life on it, as sad as that can be it is true. I spent countless hours playing those maps over and over, memorizing every trick jump and location so I could master the game. There were so many nights I didn’t get a second of sleep and proceeded to try and take on the next day because I couldn’t drop that controller. And I’m still there today, they are still constantly fun. So much to the point where I don’t care if my team sucks cause I’m still getting kills and feeling all those memories rush back. I can never completely decide which playlist I want to play cause they are all so much fun. I can’t wait until the whole game is functioning as I will still be playing this game way up until Halo 5 comes out.

Next up in this perfect match up is the Halo 5 beta. It’s so common to see a beta offered with a game that the Halo 5 beta kind of blends in. People are ignoring that this the best way to present a beta to players, and it will likely never happen again in the future. People are constantly playing Halo 4 and looking back saying “the previous ones were better”. 343 is taking that jump and saying, here are those previous games that you enjoy so much. Please play them and give us feedback as to what is great. Then immediately they follow it up with a beta so far in advance from it’s release that it is guaranteed it will be modified in many ways before it is complete. They might as well be saying this game could really be the crappiest thing you’ve played, please fix it. And of course everyone will feel free to tell them why it sucks cause they already do.

After watching some of the beta gameplay I’m tempted to join them, it looks so different and it is concerning. But Halo is trying to create a new ground breaking game and if it’s worth calling it Halo I’m gonna give it a shot. I’ve heard it isn’t something to be judged by videos and that it honestly has a learning curve that deserves more than an immediate first impression. I’ll be playing the crap out of it just to enjoy every minute, I like the ideas on paper and it will get it’s chance for me.

However the biggest thing for the MCC is Halo 2 Anniversary. And boy did it deliver. I could watch every cinematic over and over again. The game plays great along with the new skulls they threw in. That by far is the biggest accomplishment of the game, it was a smashing success in that aspect and I love every part of it. The music is great and sometimes gives me that feeling like it hasn’t been changed massively. However after switching back and forth you can tell there is so much improvement in some places, I didn’t enjoy all of them. The new maps look and play great, but since I can’t get even teams when I start a game it kind of destroys that playlist for the mean time. Multiplayer is where I feel they made their subtle test though, the maps have changed and gamers do not like change! But they took the risk anyways and even though they were made by Certain Affinity I still feel like it’s 343’s way of seeing if it’s the maps that are not doing so well in the games.

I’m excited to play this game everyday, and I hope you give me your feedback as to what I’ve said. It’s different from what I’ve read in other places so I expect a harsh lashing to come my way. In the future I think posts will be about what has made Halo such a great game. This’ll go over the small aspects that add up to a large game and maybe even take this on as a perspective of building a “new” Halo game. It’ll cover everything from the campaign and universe to the multiplayer. Again, if someone is reading this please leave feedback, and maybe spread the word 🙂